I love cincinnati chili, and I love my slow cooker, so that makes this recipe doubly lovable. You can eat this just as a plain bowl of chili, or you could put it over spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes or white rice. All these options are considered safer starches and will help you feel nice and full. I actually ate this with japanese sweet potatoes last night, since that’s all they had at Whole Foods. We don’t have that much fall produce in LA yet. It’s crazy hot here right now and and the weather keeps geting hotter and hotter. I wanted to do a cold weather recipe anyway, since pinterest has me craving fall classics. So, I decided to blast the AC while my slow cooker was heating up my apartment. It kind of worked.

Anyway, I was really happy with way this recipe turned out. It made leftovers, which is always a good thing and it tasted delicious. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that spicy, so consider it a good base for a mild to medium chili, and add in extra cayenne pepper if you need to.

Slow Cooker Cincinnati Chili

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 hours

Total time

5 hours 5 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Ingredients

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 2 white onions chopped
• 2 tbsp chili powder (frontier blend)
• ½ tsp of allspice
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp of cacao powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp of paprika
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 cups of vegetable broth
• 16 oz jar of tomato sauce (I used Amy's Organic Marinara)
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• (optional) ⅓ cup of scallions chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

1. Cook ground beef in olive oil until it is no longer pink. Then transfer to slow cooker.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to slow cooker. Set it on high for 5 hours, or low for 7-8.
3. (optional) garnish with chopped scallions.

Notes

Add more cayenne pepper to increase spicy flavor. It's currently a mild to medium chili.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 4-6

3.3.3077

I recently got a new kitchen gadget that makes zucchini noodles! I have a spiralizer that doesn’t work very well, and have been meaning to get a more expensive one that hopefully will work. In the mean time, I got this awesome Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler, which was less than $20, and I thought it worked great. The reviews on amazon said it was really sharp, so you should hold your vegetable with a fork. Overall, I’m happy with my purchase.

As you can see, I put a ton of pesto on my zucchini. I love pesto, and I don’t love the taste of raw zucchini, so I thought, what the hell, and put all the pesto I made into the “noodles”. I’ve been known to eat pesto outside my fridge with a spoon, you know, like normal people do with ice cream. So I figured why not? It’s healthy, and I haven’t had Italian for awhile, so I’m going to eat every last bit…immediately. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as I did.

Pesto Zucchini Pasta

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• 2 zucchinis made into noodles
• 1 cup of raw pine nuts
• ½ cup of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• juice from 1 lemon
• 3 cups of fresh basil

Instructions

1. Make zucchini noodles with julienne peeler. Hold down zucchini with a fork for safety.
2. In food processor, combine, pine nuts, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, fresh basil and lemon juice.
3. Blend until smooth, then toss with zucchini and plate dish.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1-2

3.2.2807

It’s kinda crazy how easy this is to make, which I love. Plus, my husband loves it when I make this for dinner so we are both happy. I’ll admit, I use a short cut and buy an amazing spice blend from Frontier called Seafood Seasoning  (the original with real sea salt). It tastes amazing and it’s all organic so I’m okay with it, and I throw it over the shrimp after I steam them and they taste soooo good. My husband loves this seasoning so much he threw it over the steamed broccoli as well. Not joking.

Easy Peel and Eat Shrimp

 

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Prep time

2 mins

Cook time

3 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Serves: 12 jumbo shrimp

Ingredients

• 12 jumbo shrimp
• 1 tbsp Frontier Original Seafood Seasoning (or more to taste)

Instructions

1. Steam shrimp until pink for about 3 minutes.
2. Season with seafood seasoning.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2

3.2.2807

I love ordering a whole fish at restaurants. It feels like real primal food, as if I were an actual cave “woman”. This was my first time cooking fish whole,  so my recipe may not be perfect, but I thought it tasted delicious and moist. Even though you will want to gobble it up quickly, take it slow and beware of fish bones. They can be pretty annoying but bones mean flavor, so I would rather have it than not. I made this with my easy fig salad, which I just posted.

Baked Whole Branzino With Lemon, Rosemary, & Thyme

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 5 mins

 

Serves: 2 whole fish

Ingredients

• 2 whole branzino (with middle cleaned)
• 1 lemon
• 2 sprigs of rosemary
• 8 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Rinse whole branzino, then with scissors cut off most of tail so it doesn't burn.
3. On a baking sheet, line it with parchment paper.
4. Do your best to add sea salt, black pepper, lemon slices (which I halved to fit), rosemary and thyme inside belly.
5. Cut three diagonal slits down belly.
6. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2

3.2.2807

Since I couldn’t eat her normal eggplant parmesan, Nonni made this paleo friendly eggplant and meatball casserole instead. Everyone was surprised at how good it tasted, especially Nonni. This dish is grain free, gluten free, and dairy free … just the way I like it. Thanks Non!

Nonni’s Eggplant and Meatball Casserole

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

2 hours 45 mins

 

Ingredients

• 3 large eggplant
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 jar of vegan marinara
• 1 cup of fresh chopped basil
• 5-6 Nonni's Paleo Meatballs
• 5 tbsp sea salt

Instructions

1. Chop eggplant into quarter of an inch slices. Then liberally salt them.
2. Let salted eggplant drain for 30 minutes to an hour.
3. Make egg wash with eggs and water. Set aside.
4. Rinse salt off eggplant and pat dry.
5. Grease cookie sheet with coconut oil.
6. Then dip eggplant in egg wash and place on greased cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 350 degrees until eggplant browns. Then take out eggplant and let it cool.
8. Add sauce to bottom of casserole dish, then layer eggplant, then a halved meatball on top, then some fresh basil, and repeat until all eggplant is used.
9. Bake in over at 350 30 to 45 minutes.
10. Garnish with fresh basil

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 4-6

3.2.2807

My Italian grandmother on my mom’s side, Nonni, made these for me before we left to go back to LA. She eliminated the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese that she normally adds, and baked them instead of frying them in olive oil, which is how I used to eat them when I was younger. Everyone, except myself (of course), was surprised at how delicious these tasted. In fact, they were so good that Nonni added them to the separate paleo eggplant casserole she made for me, since I wouldn’t eat the traditional eggplant parmesan, because of the cheese and breadcrumbs. I plan on posting the casserole recipe for everyone as well. Since she used these meatballs in that recipe, I wanted to post this one first. My now husband, Shameer (we just had our wedding!) loved the paleo meatball and eggplant casserole so much that he asked me to make it for him this time! It was really that good.

My Paleo Version of Nonni’s Meatballs

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Lauren Bolanos

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef
• 1 lb pork
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
• 1 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

1. Add beef and pork to a large bowl.
2. Press garlic and add to bowl, then add chopped parsley and eggs.
3. Add sea salt and black pepper.
4. Mix gently with hands, remember to take off rings.
5. Cover cookie sheet with foil and grease with coconut oil
6. Form mixture into balls and bake at 350 degrees ferinheight for 30-45 minutes or until brown.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 6-8

3.2.2807